New York Yankees

De La on the Jimmy Fallon Show.

Good read. The more I watch Adams at the big league level, the more he reminds me of Michael Young. Of course, Young was very durable and won a batting title – and I don’t know if Adams is that type of player. But, it would not shock me to see him become a .380 on-base guy at the major league level. And, if you can do that, play a decent third base, and stay healthy, you can have a very nice career.

Via Nick Cafardo: The Yankees are one of several teams with interest in Japanese right-hander Masahiro Tanaka. Danny Knobler recently reported the Rakuten Golden Eagles are expected to make their ace available via the posting system following this season. Tanaka, 24, has pitched to a 2.08 ERA with a 45/9 K/BB in 52 innings across seven starts this year. Since the start of the 2010 season, he owns a 1.57 ERA with 9.1 K/9 (25.6 K%) and 2.0 BB/9 (3.1 BB%). One scout told Knobler that Tanaka has “a wipeout split-finger fastball” and “a good slider” to go with solid velocity, though it’s unclear if he can remain a starter long-term. He has missed time with shoulder issues (strains and inflammation, mostly) over the years. The Yankees have shunned the Japanese pitching market since the Kei Igawa fiasco, and Brian Cashman explained why in a recent interview with Index Universe. They’re concerned about difference in pitching routines as well as the cultural adjustment. Tanaka is not Yu Darvish and frankly he’s not even Daisuke Matsuzaka, but he’s still someone worth keeping an eye on over the next several months. The Yankees can’t ignore Japanese pitchers forever. Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blogCafardo: Yankees among teams interested in Masahiro Tanaka

The Yankees' three game set against the Orioles this week seems like a great reason to write about Camden Yards, and the rise of the modern ballpark. I first heard about Camden Yards two years before it opened, in the summer of 1990. We took a family vacation to visit my mother’s brother, who lived just outside Baltimore. We checked out the mall in Washington, D.C., Arlington National Cemetery, the inner harbor, and the National Aquarium, among other places. But the thing that I was most excited about was the Orioles game we were going to. It was my first trip to a non-New York baseball stadium. The Orioles weren’t very good that year, about five games under .500 the night we saw them lose to the Athletics, and they finished 76-85. The game itself was so memorable that I don’t remember a single thing about it. However, there are a few things about the experience that I do remember. I remember Mark McGwire and Terry Steinbach signing autographs before the game. I remember Memorial Stadium, which seemed all right to me, aside from the fact that it wasn’t Yankee Stadium. I also remember the game program. It had an artist’s rendering of what the Orioles’ new stadium would look like when it was finished in two years. What struck me about the picture was the utterly foreign concept of a new baseball stadium. To me, it might as well have been an artist’s drawing of what our first colony on the moon was going to look like. Being a young, die-hard Yankees fan, I considered Yankee Stadium to be the gold standard. I also considered it to be about 2,000 years old. Was it older or newer than the Roman Colosseum? I was almost sure, but not positive, that it was newer (for the record, Yankee Stadium was 77 years old in 1990, while the Colosseum was 1,910). But a brand new stadium? That was borderline preposterous. Teams were partially defined by their stadiums. Shea sucked; so did the Mets. The Red Sox and Cubs had old, historic stadiums like the Yankees, and that was part of their culture. The Kingdome was awful, and so were the Mariners. Yankee Stadium was awesome, and the Yankees...okay, so it kind of breaks down there. The Toronto Blue Jays christened SkyDome the year before, but that was an anomaly. I had to look up the next newest stadium. Are you ready for this? Royals Stadium, which opened in 1973, was the next newest. That was three years before I was born, which meant that when SkyDome opened in 1989, it was the first new baseball stadium of my lifetime. When you’re 12 or 13, that officially makes something ancient. Little did I know that SkyDome was the first in a tidal wave of new ballparks. New Comiskey Park opened the next year, and was the last of the non-retro ballparks. And yes, I have intentionally switched from using "stadium" to "ballpark" as the multi-purpose, symmetrical concrete monstrosities of the 1960s and '70s mercifully gave way to the retro-style ballparks that have replaced almost all of them and are named "ballpark" or "field" instead of "stadium." The Indians opened Jacobs Field in 1994, replacing "the mistake on the lake," Municipal Stadium. The Rangers opened The Ballpark in Arlington the same year. The Rockies opened Coors Field in 1995; the Braves opened Turner Field in 1996; the Diamondbacks opened "the BOB," Bank One Ballpark, in 1998; the Mariners opened Safeco Field in 1999 (pause for breath). Three teams opened new ballparks in 2000 – the Giants (Pacific Bell Park), Tigers (Comerica Park), and Astros (Enron Field). In 2001, the Brewers opened Miller Park and the Pirates opened PNC Park. Almost remarkably, none opened in 2002. Then the Reds opened the Great American Ball Park in 2003; the Phillies opened Citizens Bank Park in 2004; the Padres opened PETCO Park the same year. The Cardinals opened Busch Stadium in 2006; the Nationals opened Nationals Park in 2008. In 2009 the Yankees opened the new Yankee Sta

Chad Jennings’ Lohud Yankees Chat The post LoHud Yankees chat begins at noon appeared first on The LoHud Yankees Blog.

Nice piece at the A.V. Club on Bob Newhart’s most famous record.

The story via MassLive.com – At first glance, Tanner Beebe looks like any other ordinary 12-year-old, not the subject of a controversy that has engulfed Little League baseball in a city with a passion for the sport. He stands 5 feet, 1 inch tall and weighs 90 pounds, a healthy, but not physically imposing, youngster. But there is power in his right arm – too much power for some parents in Westfield and for the rules makers of Little League, Inc. “I’m getting in trouble and being punished because I’m too good,” says Beebe, who continues to play on his team in the city’s “minor league,” but was banned from pitching after doing so in two games. It’s not that simple, according to John Wheeler, president of Westfield Little League. “We were overruled by the Eastern Regional Little League office (in Bristol, Conn.),” Wheeler said. “There is an (international Little League) rule that 12-year-olds can’t pitch in a city’s minor league.” Beebe and his father, Chris, are convinced the ban is because Tanner throws too hard, which makes him too good. In a sense, they may be correct. Had Tanner been just an ordinary pitcher, it’s likely the regional office would have never heard about him, and he would still be pitching instead of playing other positions, where he is still allowed to participate. That is because Westfield has allowed 12-year-olds to pitch in the minor leagues for years. Rather than implement the national rule, the city has chosen to serve as its own judge for which 12-year-olds might simply not be up to speed for the city’s more advanced “major league,” but still want to play baseball at some level. Westfield’s self-autonomy on this rule was never an issue until Beebe started firing fastballs that reach 60 mph. After doing so in a May 3 game, protests about his pitching reached regional officials in Bristol, Conn., who told Wheeler that Westfield had to follow the rule or risk losing its charter with Little League, Inc. The Beebe story has all the elements of a modern youth sports controversy. From Little League through high school, the city of Westfield has a storied baseball tradition and takes great pride in its reputation. At issue in this case are fairness of competition, adherence to rules set by outsiders and behavior of parents. It is not unprecedented. In 2008 in New Haven, Conn., 9-year-old Jericho Scott threw so hard for his age that supervisors in his city’s youth league (which was not affiliated with Little League, Inc.) banned him from pitching. Scott was not breaking any league rules, but organizers said his pitching ran counter to the purpose of the league, which encouraged beginners to play baseball. The case sparked a national debate over whether some youngsters were being coddled while others were being penalized for having too much talent. In the Westfield case, Tanner was the beginner. He was in full compliance with a local rule that, unbeknownst to him, conflicted with a national rule. He was also a 12-year-old who was playing in a division of almost entirely younger players, some as young as 9. Tanner had played lacrosse until this year, when he decided to try baseball and focus on pitching. Father and son practiced together, but to the league, Tanner was a newcomer and, therefore, unknown. Prior to each season, Westfield holds tryouts that are used for evaluation. Beebe’s father said Tanner threw six pitches. Wheeler said that had Tanner had been drafted by a team in the majors, league rules stipulated he would have been required to play in the majors or not at all. Because of that, the league president said he assumed Tanner had not been drafted. The player’s preference to play for his father and in the minors was clear. But, by the second game, “people (in the stands) were taunting me,” he said. “It got nasty,” his father added. The Beebes say that had Tanner known he could only pitch in the majors, he would have taken that route. But he had never played organized baseball, so he

“Window, Cour de Rohan,” By Balthus (1951)

What was your favorite bubble gum: Bazooka, Double Bubble, Bubble Yum, Hubba Bubba, Bubblicious? I like Bazooka and grape Bubble Yum but the flavor didn’t last. Always dug those animated Bubblicious ads, man.

This is Part III of our sit-down interview with MLBPA Executive Director, Michael Weiner where we touch on (among other things) your beloved New York Yankees and some of the impending issues facing the organization as they creep ever-closer to an era of transition. Obviously any conversation about the current state of the Yankee organization would not be complete without discuss, the much-publicized and much-debated Hal Steinbrenner edict to get payroll below that $189 Million luxury tax threshold. Prior to this season many fans and experts alike were predicting the Bombers demise given their age, injuries, and self-imposed salary cap. Some have even speculated that the Yankees reining in their spending would have a ripple effect throughout Major League Baseball and potentially hurt the game. Weiner, a big Yankees fan in his own right, when asked as to whether the Yankees shedding a significant amount of payroll would have a substantial impact on the game he posited: "The way the economics of the game have moved, you know have all kinds of teams trying to win and all kinds of times spending a substantial amount of money on players other than the Yankees. Given that, I'm not sure that what the Yankees have decided to do in terms of cutting payroll has the same impact on the game as it might have in the late 90's/early 2000's. They are still the Yankees and are still the premiere franchise in Major League Baseball so what they do is important just like what the Dodgers, Mets, Giants and some other teams do has more importance than would others but it's not as important as it used to be." Most Yankees fans are probably aware that the organization is trying to get under that $189 million threshold but not everyone knows what exactly the benefits are of doing so. Who better to ask than the man who brokered the most recent Basic Agreement that has seemingly prompted the Yankees to alter the way they do business: (Click "view full post" to continue reading)